"Liberal Education" spoke with two higher education policy experts on what they expect and hope for from the Biden administration. Viviann Anguiano is an associate director for postsecondary education at the Center for American Progress. Eric R. Felix is an assistant professor at San Diego State University, specializing in higher…

Many college students, especially students from low-income backgrounds, face significant structural barriers that make it challenging to persist and complete a degree or certificate. These barriers include substantial financial challenges. Student financial aid at the federal and state levels has not kept up with rising college costs, resulting in…

This Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) Plan Guidance provides instructions for developing and submitting State nutrition education and obesity prevention grant program plans, commonly referred to as State SNAP-Ed Plans. It describes Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) expectations regarding State…

In October 2019, the Public School Forum of North Carolina launched Study Group XVII: Supporting North Carolina's Rural Students. Building on the Forum's long history of exploring the most pressing issues impacting North Carolina's public schools, the seventeenth Study Group convened thought leaders from education, academia, policy, and business…

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the way Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs operate in unprecedented ways. This brief has two purposes: (1) To capture some of the adaptations and innovations that programs designed to meet the rapidly evolving circumstances of the pandemic; and (2) To highlight promising practices and pose…

While the importance of the period from birth to age three as the most promising and possibly consequential stage of human development has gained attention over the last quarter century, public investments in children's early learning opportunities have remained inadequate. The nation, as well as the state of New Jersey, invests the fewest public…

This study examines how first-generation, low-income college students make meaning of their career development process during their first year of college. Photovoice was employed to collect visual data and accompanying narrative texts providing a rich data set created by students during their transition to college. Four findings emerged from this…

"Children's Budget 2020" is the 14th annual release of this signature Children's Budget publication. While the COVID-19 health and economic crises have highlighted how important it is to put children and families at the forefront of budget decisions, far too often lawmakers fail to prioritize children when allocating federal resources.…

Most children in the U.S. spend time in some form of early childhood education (ECE) program prior to entering kindergarten. In fact, children spend an average of 25 hours per week in nonparental care, including center-based care and informal family, friend and neighbor care. Children develop a foundation for learning during these early years, so…

The Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA; P.L. 89-329, as amended) authorizes programs and activities to provide support to individuals who are pursuing a postsecondary education and to institutions of higher education (IHEs). During the 116th Congress, the House Committee on Education and Labor marked up and ordered to be reported the College…

The Inspector General Act of 1978 (Public Law 95-452), as amended, requires that the Inspector General report semiannually to the Congress on the activities of the Office of Inspector General (OIG) during the 6-month periods ending March 31 and September 30. This Semiannual Report presents the activities and accomplishments of the U.S. Department…

Between 2004 and 2016, nearly 1.5 million foreign graduates of U.S. colleges and universities obtained authorization to remain and work in the U.S. through the federal government's Optional Practical Training program (OPT). More than half (53%) of the foreign graduates approved for employment specialized in science, technology, engineering, and…

Serve-and-return interactions between a young child and caregiver are cited as integral to healthy child development and language development. In this article, the authors assert that serve-and-return interactions offer a relevant model for policy development in early childhood music education. They share contemporary evidence that music learning…

Community colleges always have played an integral role in training workers for infrastructure- and transportation-related fields like truck driving, construction, welding and electrical work. If the $1 trillion infrastructure package proposed by President Donald Trump comes to pass, these fields will grow significantly, at least for a while, which…

During the mid-1960s, the War on Poverty ushered in a change in outlook on the poor and stimulated Neighborhood House (a social service agency that began as a settlement house) to focus on educative, community-building initiatives. Yet ironically, while staffers offered educational programs for residents, they were themselves becoming educated.…